We go into the second half of the Italian Open on Saturday as those who have made the cut in the fifth Rolex Series event of the season will look to position themselves for a tilt at the title, or a big pay day on Sunday.
Saturday is known as moving day in golfing parlance and it will be interesting to see who makes the biggest move. Just 10 shots separate the field heading into the final 36 holes so everyone who has made it through to the weekend still has a chance of winning what is shaping up to be a great tournament.
Round 2 Recap
On another good day for scoring it is our pre-tournament pick Matthew Fitzpatrick who leads the way heading into the second half of the event. He has carded 10 under for his opening 36 holes, one shot better than JB Hansen who is second on nine under. There is a good quality group of players in seven under which includes Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell. Shubhankar Sharma, Andrew Johnston and Rory Sabbatini complete that group with a massive group on six under including the dangerous Matt Wallace, Andrea Pavan and Bernd Wiesberger among others.
It was yet another annoying day of betting for us on Friday. Joost Luiten looked to be cruising to victory in his three ball when two up going up the last only for him to bogey and Sam Horsfield to make birdie to turn a full winner into a dead heat success. Profit is profit but that wasn’t ideal it has to be said.
Saturday Betting
At the time of writing this preview there is no third round leader market on offer but I dare say even if there was I wouldn’t be getting too heavily involved because I’m on the current leader and I fully hope he kicks on over the course of Saturday and sets up a successful week on Sunday. The course and conditions look to be in his favour so I’m not sure I’d want to oppose him from here on in anyway.
In saying that when you have class acts such as Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell within three of the lead and then chargers such as Matt Wallace and Bernd Wiesberger only four back it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if one of those chases Fitzpatrick down a little over the course of Saturday. I trust Fitzy though so it is the two balls for me on Saturday.
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Saturday 2 Balls
The remainder of the tournament is played out in two balls which I always think is much better for betting purposes. The final group out onto the golf course is Matt Fitzpatrick and JB Hansen and they head off at 12.15 BST. Justin Rose and Shubhankar Sharma are out 10 minutes before them. One group which is likely to take a decent crowd around with it is the 11.25 BST pair of home lad Andrea Pavan and winning machine Bernd Wiesberger. There is one bet I like over the course of Saturday.
Justin Rose vs Shubhankar Sharma
Match tees off at 12.05 BST
The penultimate pair out onto the golf course are Justin Rose and Shubhankar Sharma who both tee off on seven under par and three off the lead on what could be a big weekend for one of them if they go on and build on their position.
Rose is a huge favourite to win this two ball as you would expect but I’m not so sure he is a good thing. This course is going to reward tee-to-green proficiency over the weekend rather than the putter which has got Rose into the position he is in. Rose is hitting less than half the fairways over the first two rounds and is way down the strokes gained tee-to-green statistic whereas Sharma is fourth on strokes gained tee-to-green. Sharma is used to these tests. This is very much like the Delhi Golf Club where he won the Indian Open and I think the prices have name and reputation too heavily influenced in them. I’ll have a nibble on Sharma at 11/4 with his ball striking key here.
Tips
WON – Back S.Sharma to beat J.Rose for a 3/10 stake at 3.75 with Betway
Back him here:
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